


A Lesson to Never Forget

by Lhugy_for_short



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anal Sex, Gladio is happy to oblige, Light Dom/sub, M/M, Noct needs to learn a lesson, Post-Altissia, Power Play, Rough Sex, Submission, it's all consensual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 03:14:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17113388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lhugy_for_short/pseuds/Lhugy_for_short
Summary: Being a Shield of the King meant more, Gladio knew, than simply laying down his own life for Noct’s one day. It meant protecting him, empowering him, and sometimes being as stubborn as he was to nudge him on the right path. In the end - and Gladio knew this, too, though he was less likely to admit it - Noctiswouldfind his way. He would become great, greater even than his father had been. But whether a prince or the One True King, Noctis couldn’t be strong all the time - and Gladio vowed to be there beside him, ever ready to catch.





	A Lesson to Never Forget

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hibiren](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hibiren/gifts).



> For the FFXV Holiday Gift Exchange 2018 - one of my giftee's requests was for "Gladio showing Noct he's not as strong as he thinks he is" in a very sexy way ;D Hope you like how it turned out!

They _ all  _ should have known they’d been walking into a trap. Gladio should have been able to read the tension in the air, the distinct hum of energy as the creatures in the shadows waited to pounce. Noctis should have seen it in the narrowing walls of the passage, or Prompto in the unsettling chill that had been closing in from all sides. Even Ignis should have been listening for it over the sounds of their boots in the mud - the kind of too-empty silence that only came before an ambush.

Any one of them could have read the signs in time. But they were tired, and they were worn thin, and in a moment of frustration had let their guards down. The demons were on them before they knew what was happening. 

Shots rang out. Two bursts of light in the darkness of the cave as Prompto headed the counter attack. Another flash - this time in an arc of blue - as both Gladio and Noct’s weapons were drawn, and the three instinctively huddled around Ignis in the center. 

“Fuck! Where'd they all come from?!” 

Gladio felt his blade slice clean through a purple-black appendage. Pushed the dead thing off his sword with a well-placed boot, and roared at the others to retreat. But his warning came too late. Already they were surrounded, blocked off in both directions and more of the demons were flooding in from above. 

It was then, when Iggy went down, that everything changed. His shout of surprise as three of the demons swarmed him was only outmatched by the primal rage with which Noctis turned round. Too late, Gladio saw the glint of metal, the ethereal blue glow of the Ring of the Lucii appear in the darkness. Too slow he called after his prince, and was left to watch in fear as the Crystal’s light flared up around his fist, his arm, his entire body. It burned like a ghostly fire, blinding in the depths of the cave, yet Gladio continued to stare into it. 

_ Noctis…. Noctis!!  _

Prompto tugged him away. Just in time, for the light had spread to engulf the demons, their bodies writhing and burning away to nothing atop the scorched ground. Until all that was left was Ignis, sightless eyes filled with tears as he cradled Noct’s unconscious form in his arms. 

* * *

“It was  _ reckless,  _ Highness. The Ring is not a toy; wielding it drains your lifeforce, and,  _ well _ …. It’s inadvisable, at best.”

“Iggy  _ means _ it’s stupid as fuck.” Gladio was the only one standing up inside the caravan. His height and broad shoulders filled the small alcove of the kitchen to emphasize his already intimidating presence, his fierce eyes boring into the prince from above. “He could’ve handled himself. What you did put all of us in danger.”

“You mind backing off?” From the lone armchair in the single room, Noctis met Gladio’s glare with a defiant one of his own. “What do you even want from me? An apology for saving your asses?  _ Somebody  _ had to do it, since  _ you _ were too busy running away.”

“Watch that tone of yours, princess.”

“Make me.”  

“That a challenge?” 

Twin tempers flared in the small room. Amidst the rising tension, it was only Prompto who had enough nerve - or lack of self-preservation - to speak up. He forced a smile that one that no one believed, and hooked his arm preemptively around Ignis’ elbow beside him. “So, uh. How about some food? Anyone else hungry? I bet we could all use a little pick-me-up right now, yeah?” 

“...Capital idea, Prompto. I could go for an Ebony. Or five.” 

“Great. Noct? G-Gladio?” His voice wavered as he addressed the other two, neither of whom had moved an inch and were still staring each other down like predators in a territory match. The silence, therefore, that met his question was expected - in fact, Prompto had been counting on it. He took his chance while he saw it, backing Ignis away from the ticking time bomb in the caravan to somewhere well outside the blast zone without another word. 

Behind them, the mesh door slammed shut, and with it the barriers came down. Everything Gladio had been holding back exploded to the surface, and Noctis rose to his feet to meet him with equal force. 

“Selfish brat!”

“Like you're one to talk?! Isn't it  _ your _ job to take one for the team?”

“My  _ job  _ is to keep  _ you  _ from dying!” Each point Gladio emphasized with a finger jabbed directly to the center of Noct’s chest. “What were you thinking?!”

“I was trying to help!” 

“Oh, really?” A scoff as Gladio drew back his shoulders. “‘Cause it looked to me like you had some kinda deathwish back there.”

“Yeah, well. Maybe life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Not when your only purpose in it is to get everyone you love  _ killed. _ ”  

That one stung more than Gladio wanted to admit. Of course he'd seen the way death seemed to hang around Noctis like a curse, knew intimately that empty pit of loss after friends and family alike fell, one after another. The King, his own father, the Glaives, Luna. But did Noctis really think he was honoring their sacrifices by throwing himself toward the same darkness? He grit his teeth again. “You say that like they died for nothing.” 

Silence. No answer came, not in words at least. Gladio thought anything would have been better than the cold, almost malicious way Noct was glaring at him in that moment. A confirmation, a defense, even a  _ get the fuck out of my sight.  _ But there was nothing, and that only served to piss him off more. 

His limits snapped and he threw himself forward to slam Noctis against the wall. 

“ _ Say something! _ ”

“Fuck!” There were tears in Noct’s eyes - in part from the way his head had hit the plaster behind him, but mostly the hot, stinging kind filled with fear, confusion, and anger. “Stop acting like I’m supposed to be okay with this!”

_ You're not supposed to be okay. None of us are _ . “Then stop acting like you're alone!”

Noct’s mouth snapped shut. Under Gladio’s hands, his body went rigid, his attention focused singularly on the face mere inches from his own. 

“Stop treating Iggy like he's made of glass. Stop pushing me and Prompto away.” Though still sharp, the amber of Gladio’s eyes had begun to burn with a different kind of fire. With a different kind of  _ power  _ over the prince he held captive beneath him. “Stop pretending you're the only one who’s lost something!”

There was a heaviness hanging in the air between them. Through the fog of his emotions, it was hard for Gladio to put his finger on what it was, what it  _ meant _ . And yet while Noct still hadn’t spoken, neither was he resisting in the same way.  _ Challenging _ , yes, with those hard, tearful eyes watching him, unblinking. But challenging him to do what…?

The prince opened his mouth as if to speak. In place of words, however, a quiet, warbling sound tumbled out - not unlike a whine or a whimper - and his head tipped back against the wall. When he swallowed, the curve of his throat bobbed up, down, caught Gladio’s attention and held it. As did the shudder that ran through Noct’s frame. Deep, strained. And that was when he noticed at last. His own thigh, solid as it was from years of training and battle, had found its way between Noct’s legs, an unconscious move in his effort to pin the prince to the wall. It was pressed firmly against his body - and, Gladio realized, the hard length of his erection. 

... _ Erection!? _ Was Noct…getting off on this? 

Gladio’s head swam with emotion, with anger and sadness and  _ possibilities.  _  Ones that he hadn't  _ not  _ considered before, if he was being honest, though in that moment he was hardly able to focus on anything but Noct’s heat, his proximity, the look in his eyes. 

Without taking the time to question the risks, Gladio let instinct take over. Leaned his weight into Noctis, and slid his fingers up to the lean, vulnerable curve of his throat. Watched with both interest and a feral kind of lust as the prince’s eyes rolled back when he squeezed down. Growled into his ear, “So you wanna see what real strength is?” and throbbed in sympathy at the barely-there nod of the other’s head. 

There was no turning back. One hand around his neck, the other on his shoulder, Gladio ripped Noctis away from the wall. He carried him more than dragged him out of the kitchen, down the narrow hallway to the single bedroom in the back of the caravan. Threw him down hard onto the mattress with far too many broken springs to be comfortable anymore, and shucked his own shirt off before the prince had even managed to turn himself around to strike. 

Gladio was ready for the half-assed attempt at a punch. If Noct wanted to, he knew all too well, he could warp out of the room, or run him through with a dagger pulled from the Armiger in a literal flash. But instead he chose to make a display out of fighting back, a last attempt at retaining control when it was clear to the both of them who it really belonged to. So when Gladio caught the prince’s fist in his palm, easily bending it around to pin it behind his back instead, there was no surprise written in those blue eyes. 

Only  _ hunger _ . 

It pulled Gladio in like a magnet. He'd thought before - so many times - what it would be like to kiss Noctis. How his full lips would feel pressed against his own in a smile, laughing and teasing him and begging for more. Yet in all his dreams, the kiss had never been anything like  _ this _ : Noct’s mouth was firm when he slammed into it. Noct’s lips did not yield for him, but rather gave way begrudgingly as he forced his tongue between them. And his moans, when they came, were strained, defiant even in their need. 

And wasn’t that what Noct had always been to him? As Gladio pushed him down onto the bed, pinning his arms above his head and diving deeper into his mouth, he understood how  _ right  _ this felt. Could Noct feel it, too? The combination of tension in his limbs and throbbing in his cock certainly suggested as much. Suggested that all his recklessness, his carelessness, had been a cry for attention, a plea for someone to reign him in. 

And  _ gods,  _ Gladio needed it, too. Kissing Noctis had left his mind reeling as much as the argument outside, and the effort of keeping him pinned down was sending jolts of excitement to his own cock. It was wrong. It was  _ perfect _ . It was something to pour himself into that wasn't battle or grief or guilt at his own shortcomings. It made so much fucking sense in that moment, with Noctis writhing beneath him and his lung burning from the kiss. And it was too late to stop even if either of them wanted to. 

The sound of fabric ripping filled the room. Gladio sighed a mental apology to Ignis as he tore Noct’s shirt open fully, sending the buttons ricocheting off the wall, the headboard, the window. Leaving his chest bare and exposed, the smooth skin there flushed as heated red as his cheeks in the moonlight. Beautiful, vulnerable. Gladio couldn’t keep his hands away. 

Everything was rough, all teeth and nails raking down pale and tattooed skin alike. When Gladio growled into his prince’s mouth, Noct groaned in answer. When he scratched over a budding nipple with the dull tips of his fingers, he felt Noct’s cock jolt against his thigh. Each show of power, each mark of possessiveness left behind on the other’s body served to fuel the act, until Gladio was grinding down with animalistic desire, his own erection telling behind the confines of his dark pants.

Desperation had Noct clawing his belt open within seconds. Any questions, any doubts either of them may have still had were cast aside along with the leather, until Gladio’s cock was free in the space between them. Yet he stopped the prince before his fingers could find their way around its length. 

“I thought  _ this  _ was what you wanted,” he snapped, shoving Noctis back down onto the mattress. He was on him a second later, teeth raking over the pale curve of that neck even as he tugged his pants open and over his hips. “Strong.  _ Rough _ . You wanted to get pushed around.”

“Fuck you,” Noct spat back. Despite the flush of his cheeks and the lust dulling the depth of blues in his eyes, his words were a clear challenge. “You think...you can give me what I want?”

A smirk, dark and mirthless, stretched across Gladio’s lips. There he let his answer hang for a long moment, right in the shadows of the corner of his mouth. Right next to the single finger he slipped inside, still silent as he slicked it, drew it back out again, lowered it between the prince’s spread legs. “Yeah. I know I can,” Gladio said at last, and admired the flash of color across pale skin. “And I’m gonna make you beg for it.” 

Noct’s response was a gasp of sensation, followed by a low, long whine that left his entire body thrumming. Around Gladio’s knuckle, his muscles clenched and squeezed, as if not sure whether to push him out or pull him in deeper. Gladio generously provided both. Twisted and curled his finger against the tender rim of the prince’s opening until his voice broke, then slammed into him again forcefully enough to bring tears to his eyes. 

“F-fuck,  _ harder _ .”

“Ask nice.” A second time, and a third, Gladio’s palm pressed firmly to the bare skin of Noct’s ass as he stroked teasingly along his walls. His other hand held the prince’s hips in place, kept him from fucking himself down on it in desperation. 

“ _ N-nh! _ Harder,  _ please! _ ” came the response hissed through clenched teeth. But Gladio’s smirk only darkened. 

“You can do better than that, brat. You might be royalty out there, but in here, you kneel to  _ me.”  _ Another twist of his finger, right up against a hard knot of skin and Gladio felt Noct shudder from head to toe beneath him. “You wanna get  _ fucked _ , you beg. You wanna cum, you beg  _ harder _ . Now try again, unless you want me to turn you over to the hunters like thi--” 

“Please! Gladio, p-please.” Wincing, eyes wet but cock still throbbing hard where it lay against his stomach, Noct dropped the act at last. His own fingers trembled as they curled around both of Gladio’s larger wrists, and his mouth opened and closed a few times before he seemed to find his words. “Please, fuck me. I want...I  _ need _ it, okay? I n-need you.”

“Why?” 

He sniffled, clenched tighter around the intrusion inside him. “Because I’m lost. I’m scared.”

“Noct.” 

Fragile, vulnerable, those blue eyes strained to focus on him in the dark. “Wh…?”

“I need you, too.”

Real tears fell - Gladio wasn’t even sure they were all Noct’s anymore - as he surged forward into another kiss. It was still desperate, still rough, but there was no resistance this time. No more struggle for control, because they’d both entrusted that to the other, the way they did in battle. Depending, relying on each other, able to read the next move as naturally as their own. When Gladio removed his finger, Noctis shifted to allow their bodies to slot together. When Noct’s legs wound around his waist, Gladio didn’t hesitate to take the opening. He pushed forward into tight heat with all the strength he knew his prince could take.

Together they cried out, Noct’s voice wavering where Gladio’s was deep, solid. There must have been pain - even Gladio had felt the flesh tear, and the hot blood trickling down from the point where their bodies met - but Noct merely urged him on. Dug his nails into bronzed shoulders and kissed him while they began to move together, shallow at first and growing deeper, faster. Eventually, they would both need a potion or two from Iggy’s duffel bag, but that could wait. It would have to, because neither of them even remembered how to stop. 

Around him, Noct’s heat was mind-blowing. Gladio was already lost in it, letting his eyes fall closed and his forehead come to rest in the curve of the prince’s neck. He held his body tight in his lap, fucked him with abandon despite the protesting of the mattress, the headboard, the thin walls of the caravan that shook with the force of their sex. And all the while, Noctis cried out for him, moaned his name and rocked his hips up to meet each thrust. Clung to him with every limb, as for the first time he allowed Gladio’s strength to deliver them both.

Being a Shield of the King meant more, Gladio knew, than simply laying down his own life for Noct’s one day. It meant protecting him, empowering him, and sometimes being as stubborn as he was to nudge him on the right path. In the end - and Gladio knew this, too, though he was less likely to admit it - Noctis  _ would  _ find his way. He would become great, greater even than his father had been. But whether a prince or the One True King, Noctis couldn’t be strong all the time - and Gladio vowed to be there beside him, ever ready to catch. 

“ _ Noct! _ ” he breathed, thoughts scattered by the sudden clenching of impossibly tight heat around him. “ _ Gods, N-- _ ”

“ _ Please...Gladio. Please, I need…! Please! So c-close, I can’t…!” _

“I gotcha.”  _ Lips against his neck, Noct’s pulse pounding wildly just beneath the skin; thick fingers curled around his flesh, stroking in time with their bodies still bucking together.  _

_ “Oh, f-fuck! Yeah! Please! Gladio, please!” _

“Huh.” This time, his smirk was tinged with pride. “Guess...princes  _ can  _ learn their manners.”  __

Noctis came in his fist, an explosion of heat and energy as the rest of him went slack. Gladio had just enough strength left to fuck him through his orgasm, slow and deep into those tight channels, before he allowed himself to topple over the precipice, as well. 

The name whispered on his lips in his climax was as reverent as a prayer.  

* * *

The leisurely scuffing of sneakers on pavement was accompanied by the almost rhythmic  _ tap, tap _ of Ignis’ cane. Not that he needed it, really; not with Prompto’s arm to guide him and the sounds of the rest stop at his back. But the effect made the two appear as if they’d been out for a stroll, rather than biding time in a seedy diner while they waited for the smoke to clear.

And clear it had. Prompto was the first to notice, of course. The blond nearly stopped dead in his tracks when he glanced up to see both Noctis and Gladio lounging in the chairs outside the caravan, their feet up on the table as they battled each other on their phones. Noct laughed and Gladio elbowed him, and together they turned as their friends approached the camp. 

“Oh, hey guys. Welcome back. Anything good at the Crow’s Nest?” 

“Yeah, what’d you bring us? I’m starved.” 

Prompto eyed them both suspiciously for a long moment. “So...you guys made up? Just like that?” 

“Gladio taught me a lesson.” Blue eyes flashed with mischief. “What can I say? I’m a reformed prince.” 

“Thought you’d be happy for us, blondie.” Reflecting Noct’s grin, Gladio got to his feet and strode over to help Ignis with the carry-out containers he was holding. “Mm, fries. Heads up, Noct.”

“Got it!” He caught the styrofoam box in mid-air, not even bothering to pull his feet down from the table before shoveling half the contents into his face. 

“Hey, buddy! Save some for me!” With a laugh, Prompto moved to join him, but Ignis remained exactly where he stood. Smiled subtly as his gloved fingers danced over Gladio’s forearm, almost as if he could sense the ghost of Noct’s touch on him even through the leather. 

“Well, Gladiolus,” he hummed, eyes pale and mysterious over the rim of his tinted glasses. “I’m quite certain we could  _ all _ stand to learn a lesson from you now and then.” 


End file.
